After a development year in 2009, Tombo Racing rider Glen Nickleberry, along with crew chief Tommy Bolton, dominated the 2010 PMRA Pro Open class in 2010. Winning 7 out of 9 races in the top class, this year saw Nickleberry consistently turning quarter mile times in the high 6 second range.
“In the past we could occasionally turn 6 second passes, but we would often break something when we did. Our bike was more realistically a 7.1 second bike” says Bolton. During the winter of 2008/2009 Tommy rebuilt the bike from the ground up. “We installed a new frame, new bottom end, new turbocharger, new heads, cylinders, pistons, just basically a new bike. My goal was to beef up the parts that were breaking. Our turbocharger was actually too large for the bike. We put a smaller turbo on the bike and now we run faster without breaking parts” explains Bolton.
The 2009 racing season was a developmental
year for Nickleberry and Bolton. “We had some success, but we really spent a lot of time finding the correct setup and working out the bugs with the new equipment” explains Bolton. ” With these Pro Open bikes you can't just go out and run them down the street. You have to do your testing at the strip, and there is only a limited number of days you can do testing”
With all the bugs worked out over the summer of 2009, the winter off-season saw Tommy fine tuning the bike, installing new bodywork with paint by 2Brothers Painting, and getting the bike ready for 2010. And ready they were.
The season opened with Nickleberry consistently turning times in the 6.9 second range, without breaking anything. “Our bike was finally a true six second bike. We can now turn times in the high sixes on a regular basis, pass after pass” said Bolton. That consistency paid off for 2010, with Nickleberry winning 7 out of 9 races for the season and along the way, winning the 2010 PMRA Pro Open class championship.
“It's good to be back on top in the fastest class in the region” says Bolton. “This winter all we have to do is roll the bike into the shop, do a few minor tweaks, and be ready to race again in 2011.”